Category: OPINION

The basic purpose of these ten forms is the presentation of a false picture of reality.

You could find more forms, or divide these ten into sub-categories.

The ten basic forms are:

* Direct lying about matters of fact.

* Leaving out vital information.

* Limited hangout. (This is an admission of a crime or a mistake, which only partially reveals the whole truth. The idea is that by admitting a fraction of what really happened and burying the biggest revelations, people will be satisfied and go away, and the story will never be covered again.)

* Shutting down the truth after publishing it includes failing to follow up and investigate a story more deeply.

* Not connecting dots between important pieces of data.

* Censoring the truth, wherever it is found (or calling it “fake news”).

* Using biased “experts” to present slanted or false “facts.”

* Repeating a false story many times—this includes the echo-chamber effect, in which a number of outlets “bounce” the false story among themselves.

* Claiming a reasonable and true consensus exists, when it doesn’t, when there are many important dissenters, who are shut out from offering their analysis.

* Employing a panoply of effects (reputation of the media outlet, voice quality of the anchor, acting skills, dry mechanical language, studio lighting, overlay of electronic transmissions, etc.) to create an impression of elevated authority which is beyond challenge.

These are all traditional forms and methods.

Here’s an example of a big story that deployed all ten forms of fake news: the Swine Flu pandemic of 2009.

In the spring of 2009, the World Health Organization ( elevated authority beyond challenge) announced that Swine Flu was a level-6 pandemic its highest category of “danger.” In fact, there were only 20 confirmed cases at the time ( direct lying about “danger”). And W.H.O. quietly changed the definition of “level-6” so widespread death and damage were no longer required ( another aspect of direct lying).

The story was, of course, picked up by major media outlets all over the world ( echo chamber effect, fake consensus, never connected dots re W.H.O. lies), and quite soon, Swine Flu case numbers rose into the thousands ( direct lying, as we’ll soon see).

Medical experts were brought in to bolster the claims of danger ( biased experts; important dissenters never given space to comment ).

In the early fall of 2009, Sharyl Attkisson, then a star investigative reporter for CBS News, published a story on the CBS News website. She indicated that the CDC had secretly stopped counting the number of Swine Flu cases in America. No other major news outlet reported this fact ( omitting vital information).

Attkisson discovered the reason the CDC had stopped counting: the overwhelming number of blood samples taken from the most likely Swine Flu patients were coming back from labs with: no trace of Swine Flu or any other kind of flu. Therefore, a gigantic hoax was revealed. The pandemic was a dud, a fake.

Despite Attkisson’s efforts, CBS never followed up on her story ( shutting down the truth after exposing it). Never probed the lying by the CDC (failure to connect dots). In a sense, CBS turned Attkisson’s story into a limited hangout— a further investigation would have uncovered acres of criminal behavior by both the CDC and the World Health Organization, to say nothing of the governments and media outlets that supported these lying agencies. The mainstream press essentially censored Attkisson’s revelations.

Then, about three weeks after CBS published Attkisson’s story, WebMD published a piece in which the CDC claimed that its own ( lying) estimate of 10,000 or so cases of Swine Flu in the US was a gross understatement. Truly, there were 22 MILLION cases of Swine Flu in the US (doubling down on lying). And that was that.

Which leads to an 11th form of fake news: if one lie doesn’t quite fly, tell a much bigger lie .

And these mainstream sources are currently shouting and bloviating about independent media spreading fake news. I guess you could call that number 12 : accusing their opponents of committing the crimes they are, in fact, committing .

This article appeared on Jon Rappoport’s blog.

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IT’S NOW offficial, atleast it has been for the past few days. Many are still coming to terms with it. Trump emerged winner in the recently held US elections and it has been big news for most media houses since.

A lot has been said about the candidature of the man Donald Trump and more will be said in the weeks and months to come. What is clear is that he has been unlike non before him, or even after, I suppose. We’ll leave that to the forces that shape the past and future.

The election of Trump took me by susprise even with the fact that I had hoped he would win. I think I can now change the tense to present.

The media did a good job of making the masses believe in the possibility of a Clinton win over Trump that is to blame for the present selective demonstrations across the United States. The media has a lot of soul searching to do if it is to regain the trust of the general public.

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PASTOR Imelda Namutebi of Liberty Worship Centre has pitched camp in Hoima town for the last three days in what will be a week long crusade that started 28 August and is to end on the 4th September. The stage is state-of-the-art with the latest lighting systems, public address system and ofcourse, the energetic, flombouyant well-dressed choir. A full package!

Two-thirds of #Hoima town is within audible range of the crusade grounds thanks to the world class address system.

This crusade is among the few crusades that are organised by Born-again Christian Churchs in Hoima. Most Churchs wait for their ‘flock’ to go to their Churchs. I don’t remember witnessing any other since the start of the year. It’s possible that some crusades might have escaped my radar and so went unnoticed so I leave room for an oversite in my observations. However, that’s not the point.

Many are chosen, few are called

You see going by the Holy book most Christians subscribe to – The Holy Bible – Christians are called to be disciples of Christ and with that calling comes a responsibility of preach the word of God to others – to the world so to speak, to be missionaries.

There are numerous verses that further amplify this mission.

According to the recently carried out national cesnsus, majority of Ugandans claim to be Christians of some form or another; Catholics, Anglicans, Born-agains, Pentecostals, you name it.

With this in mind, I often ask my self whether the fact that many #Ugandans claim to be christians is the sole and major reason why secular content – secular music, movies – are more in circulation that religious related content. One would have to look at the many radio and television stations and the secular programming they offer not to mention the many movies and other forms of entertainment.

Don’t be naïve

Christianity and true Christians in particular view matters in two forms; light or darkness, good or evil, right or wrong. There are two sides to a coin and no middle ground.

If one were pose a question to a random sample of people about how many times they pray or go or church or do anything religious; and then go throught their play list of songs, a big contrast lies therein.

Most go to church on Sundays only if they are spiritual while some attend churh only on major religious days like Easter and Christmas.

In conclusion

The church has considerable ‘market share’ in Uganda. The recent gains in some religions only accounts for dedecutions in other religious groups but not expansion. The crusades are commendable but in their limited nature they are a tiny fraction of the efforts being made by the other side.

Until the other side can be out-matched in terms of out-reach, I don’t expect a major revival or awakening for that matter however with the knowledge that #Jesus turned bread into wine, multiplied five fish and two loaves to feed thousands, anything is possible to they that believe.

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Aboard a passenger bus, we were awoken by squeecking of tyres and the smashing of glass. It was too short a time to hear the brakes. From all indications, the bus had rammed into the Toyota vehicle infront of us. There were no casualities except for deformed hind of the Toyota – the scratched body and a hind windscreen that lay in fragments with cracks radiating from the site of impact.

Over 97% of freight cargo and 99% of passenger traffic uses road according to this article. Uganda is only second to Ethiopia in registering the highest number of road accidents. Further, Uganda also seems to be well respected by it’s peers when it comes to alcohol consumption. Ugandans ‘tank’ quiet a lot.

It is this state of affairs that has resulted in the authoring of numerous reports decrying the frequency and mortality of accidents on Ugandan roads.

What went wrong

This begs the question: ‘what went wrong’ on Ugandan roads for them to be in such a state of quagmire? Well, quiet a number of reasons have been fronted ranging from over-speeding, sharp corners, blind spots, poor mechanical condtition of vehicles, driving-school-skipping drivers, lacsity in implimentation of traffic laws, e.t.c.

The motives of the driver as well as the passenger have eluded the conversation with the driver getting all the blame. This is were the rubber meets the road.

The drivers and Passengers alike seem to use the opportunity to think abou the many challenges and problems they face in their daily lives that they are nearly in a state of sleep and are only awakened by the sound of other vehicles driving past them, humps and increasingly the sound of squeecking of tyres and breaks. The latter more often that not results into casualities as it’s normally an acciddent.

Nothing is what it seems

Ugandan’s have been known for their warmth at heart and hospitable, a trait that has been key in promoting Uganda’s attractiveness to the world.
Smiles curve on faces almost automatically at the site of a visitor.

This sends the mind into a series of calculations as per the expences on food and other bills to ensure a comfortable visitor, and ofcourse when the visitor is leaving.

Some households prefer to receive a declaration of intent to pay a visit in advance for proper preparations.

The Bottom line

Tragic incidences such as fatal road accidents evoke a lot of emotional outpour and induce a need to protect dear life for both pedestrians, motorlists and motorcyclists. The motives of both driver and passenger are quiet different and need to be fully understood without which all labour in vain. The current interventions can only postpone the inevitable but will not stop offer durable solutions to accidents on Uganda’s roads.

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Can states command the loyalty of their inhabitants? This is a question many states have struggled to answer both in the developing and developed world. I use this as a curtain raiser to the relevance or irrelevance of the concept of a state or states for that matter.

The genesis of modern day states can be traced back thousand of years to the birth of modern civilisation. A time when human beings gathered into communities as an insurance of ‘staying alive’ in a dangerous and precarious world arounf them at the time. Gradually these communities grew larger and eclipsed larger and ever larger expanses of territory as discoveries were made, a renaisence that made life easier.

In that newly found bubble of safety and security, humans were now masters of their own destinies in a way, nologer exposed to the vagaries of the laws of the wild. With more advances in science, this was further stratified.

But with such pockets of civilisations came the need to ensure the peaceful co-existance and respect of interests of individual civilisations. The world around humans has always mirrored the inner desires, values and one can say the flaws within the human design. As ways of governing become more structured with time, greed for power and authority took over as a few benefactors of the status quo wanted to strengthen their hold on the various pockets of civilisation under their dominance.

Fast forward to the modern 21st century, not much seems to have changed over the milleniars- a few have always sought dominance. Many theories and explanations as well as studies have been carried out to explain the modern status quo as it is but they are no different from what was the case milleniar ago. We’ve only found ever more complex terms to explain the obvious.

With that back drop, I wonder whether the modus operandi needs a complete overwhale. Papers in support and against it have been instituted and published in equal volumes filling shelves of libraries around the world. However, it all boils down to one question: Are modern states still relevant?

Looking at the pockets of unrest and disenfranchisement that have erupted arounf the world in the form of uprisings like the so called Arab spring, wars between nation states only for their inhabitants to suffer for ‘interests’ that are secret and only understood by the elite of those establishments. It’s pathetic to say the least.

As human society has advanced, pockets of civilisation have gradually lost their appeal and have found ever limited space to encourage their existence and that has come with it’s own benefits like freedom of travel, habiting other parts of the world as spelt out by the human rights upheld by all member states of the United Nations. I approve of some and disapprove of others but that for another day. Because of this wave of globalisation that has and is taking shape, more and more pockets of nations dotted along side each other as soon to loose their relevance and embrace the widely upheld values of humanity.

Just like all things in life, there is an opposite equal to this trend of civilisation. A few majority will now make the decisions on behalf of abillion minority and this is nothing to be embraced. It’s evident in the many inequalities among the world population as evident in the rising income inequality between the world’s poor and rich. Certainly, many other less publicised inequality do exist.

It appears that is the price modern civilisation has to pay to be released from the control of the various pockets of existence and embrace the little more freer global civilisation with even more restrictions. The tide is high, it’s pointless to resist.